Reading is Fundamental

Another benefit of this program is the sense of ownership that comes to a child who is presented with his very first book. A brand new book. A book that is all his own, not his brothers, not the library's, not a hand-me-down with torn pages and folded corners. A brand new book, smelling of ink print, waiting for its owner to open it up and crack the binding for the first time. This ownership of a book provided by the Reading is Fundamental program may be the first book that child will ever read. But it won't be the last. Former first lady, Barbara Bush, and mother of the current president, sits on the National Advisory Council for Reading is Fundamental. I wonder how her son will explain this action? Maybe she can provide him with a copy of his very own book, Why Johnny Can't Read, before the budget cuts go into effect. Will states be able to make up the difference for a program like this one? Not as long as they have to figure out a way to fund all the mandatory testing that is to take place. The costs of writing and administering the tests will be astronomical. The federal budget's proposed assistance amount of $320 million won't even cover California's cost of implementating the tests. Even though the states will probably have to cut other programs to meet the federal mandates, we will have tests to measure how well our students are doing. And our students will once again come up on the short end because instead of teaching them to read and to love words and language, we will teach them that reading means sitting still for a three hour test staring at meaningless words on which their school's future rests. How much enjoyment will come from the written word then? Maybe once Barbara discovers what has happened to the Reading is Fundamental program which does instill a love of reading in our young children, she won't bother beating around the bush, but will take her boy out to the woodshed to teach him all about accountability.

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